Robert Rich (1587–1658), Second Earl of Warwick

Anthony van Dyck

ca. 1632–35 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

A Puritan sailor of fortune, the second earl of Warwick promoted the colonization of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, and seized Spanish ships on behalf of the duke of Savoy and Charles I of England. Among the privateer ships he sponsored was the White Lion, which brought the first enslaved Africans to the British colony of Virginia in 1619. Despite allusions to his maritime career in the discarded armor and ships in the background, Warwick wears the flamboyant dress of a landed aristocrat, reflecting the image of himself he wished to promote.

Artist

Anthony van Dyck

Date

ca. 1632–35

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

The Jules Bache Collection, 1949